Red Hood: The Hunt (8 page)

She was cleaning the silver arrowheads of the bolts with what looked like a deer hide cloth. I asked as I shrugged into my shoulder holster and checked my magazine to be sure I had silver rounds for tonight, “How many pound pull on that?”

She shrugged. “Around two fifty or two seventy-five I'd guess.”  I blinked, there was no way!  A monster like that would sling bolts at the velocity of a bullet.  How could she even cock it?  Then I remembered who I was talking to.

Then I nodded at the ancient derringer. “There are more modern guns.”  Then I looked at the crossbow again.  “And easier to wield than that beast.”

She chuckled and held up the crossbow like it were made of paper and slammed her hand against the silver plated stirrup at the base of the stock, where she would stand to cock the string.  “Easier to bash in a wolf's skull with a thirty pound crossbow than a two and a half pound pistol.”

She set it down and picked up the little derringer with reverence.  “This is for Marcus.  I swore when I obtained this beauty, that the silver ball I keep loaded in it would be his end and break the curse.  It is the only use I have for a firearm.”  Then as if that prompted her she removed the ball, paper patch, and powder as I watched with fascination.  She poured fresh black powder into the barrel and used the same paper patch and tamped the ball back into the barrel.  She did it with the ease of practice of... I blanched, over one hundred years of it.

She grinned a toothy grin and stood and wrapped her cloak around her with that same practiced ease. I crossed my arms with a smile and leaned back against the wall as I watched her gear up.  I could see there were pockets and sheaths lining the interior, and some sort of leather reinforcement that hung over her shoulder that the crossbow somehow hooked to as it hung at her side and clipped onto a belt at her waist to keep it from swinging around.

She winked at me and with a grand flourish, whipped the cloak around her like a great cape, obscuring her silver arsenal.  I grinned at her playfulness.  The cop part of my brain I knew that as a Wolf Hunter she would have a waiver for the silver hoarding laws.  She must have had about ten pounds of silver on her.  That would be valued at almost a quarter million dollars at today's market value.  I wondered just how many werewolves that same ten pounds of silver had ended over the years.

She must have read that in my eyes because she said quietly, “Too many to remember.”

I just nodded and motioned toward the door.  I grabbed my coat as we headed outside.  I said, “So we will see you on Wednesday to discuss plans for the negotiation?  You still haven't told me why you think Marcus is involved in the silver shortage in some way.”

She nodded then brightened. “I could tag along tonight again and tell you during your perimeter sweep.”

I found myself smiling back and nodding.  “If Howler Duty isn't too boring to you.”  She answered simply by looping an arm in mine and walking toward my car.

I caught her sniffing her hair as she got in.  “Why are you doing that?”

She looked embarrassed to be caught. “I don't normally use scented soaps or shampoos, they are usually too overpowering for my enhanced sense of smell.  But yours smells like you, and I like it.”

I blushed and grinned at her, she shook her head and slapped my shoulder lightly with a grin of her own. “Shut up and drive Detective.”  I snorted and pulled us out into traffic and turned toward the station.

I had to give Victor a death glare when he gave me a cocked eyebrow with a smarmy look when Maireni joined us after we geared up.  I hissed at him. “We were coordinating.”

He chuckled. “Really, and what watch rotation are you thinking of for the Slater Mining negotiation?”

As I pushed past I just said, “Asshole.”  Red laughed a gleeful laugh at our antics and I couldn't stop myself from smiling.  “You're not helping,”  I growled out at her, trying to sound gruff.  She wiggled her eyebrows and growled back.  No, really, she growled back and the wonderful low vibration of it settled in my stomach.  Why did she have to be so damn playful?

I just muttered, “I give up.  You two are jerks.”  They grinned in satisfaction at each other like they had choreographed their coordinated efforts of embarrassing me for years.  Internally I was oddly happy that my partner and Mari were getting along. 
Don't get attached Daria, she's just going to be around for a couple weeks.

Howler Duty played out the same as the previous night.  Then she joined me as I walked the perimeter.  As soon as the sounds of fighting were fading in the distance she turned to me.  “Ask your questions Daria.”

Heat flushed through me at her using my first name, but like a petulant child I said, “McQueen.”  She shrugged and I looked at her, assessing her again.  “What makes you believe Marcus is involved?”

She just walked beside me checking the FMBs on the buildings as we passed.  There was a shrug in her voice if that is possible as she asked, “Aside from your description of the wolf that attacked your family?”

She tilted her head as she said, “He has a certain pattern of chaos he leaves in his wake.  It is like his sole focus is to infect the entire population so that he can reign over them with his compulsion.  From Europe, he left a trail of lycanthropes.  In normal werewolf attacks, the primal nature of the wolves is to kill and...” she paused, “...eat their victims.”

She straightened. “It is exceedingly rare that a human would survive an attack, especially from a pack.  So to have so many become infected without leaving a trail of bodies is an indicator that Marcus has been through an area.”

I shook some FMBs on one side of an alley and she shook some on the opposite side as she continued, “In his lust for power he infects as many influential people and families on the outside of the walled cities as he can, to hold sway over them.”

She shrugged and finished, “So when I hear of the unexplained floods of Ferals laying siege to Seattle each full moon cycle, coupled with the decrease in production of silver worldwide.  I researched and found that over ninety percent of all of the silver mines in the world are owned by or run by shell companies owned by Slater Mining. Almost gaining a monopoly on all the silver in the world.  With his headquarters a stone's throw away from Seattle, I've come to the conclusion that Slater is being controlled by Marcus in some manner.  Whether he has been infected by him or by other means.”

She looked at me and her expression was solemn. “Can you imagine if the only material that is deadly to a werewolf is controlled by the Alpha?  He would finally attain the power he seeks.  With no more silver being produced, the shortages would eventually spell the downfall of the walled cities of Clean Bloods as he compels more and more wolves to attack each full moon.  Then he would hold sway over the entire human race once they all shared the lycan curse.”

I nodded, understanding the gravity of what she was saying.  If it were true, Clean Bloods were basically facing an extinction event here.  I said carefully, “So that is why you got yourself assigned as the mayor's security for the meeting.  So you can get close to Slater and see if Marcus is anywhere near?”

She nodded, placing a finger on her nose.  “And kill him when I do.  Then the world can finally be free of the curse.”  I heard the resounding “And me” she left unspoken.

I tilted my head in thought as we walked. “But if he controls Slater, why not just stop all silver production now, why even negotiate.”

She smiled slyly like she knew a secret.  “Because of the holdouts.  He only has control of ninety percent of the world's silver mines.  As long as there are alternate sources of silver, no matter how small, he can't have the complete control he needs for his plan to succeed.  There are a few walled mines in Europe and Africa.  And an old abandoned mine right here in the area that was flooded back in the early eighteen hundreds.  Modern mining techniques would be able to reactivate the mine.  However the owner of the land refuses to sell, even after two attempts on her life by wolf attacks.”

She stopped walking and just stared at me to let me work through what she had just said.  My eyes went wide and I whispered, “My parent's land?”  She nodded sadly.  I said hoarsely, “My God.  You mean my parents were murdered and my sister was taken from me just for a piece of fucking land?”

She placed a hand on my arm and caught my eyes with hers.  “I believe so.  There are far too many coincidences for it to be otherwise.”  Then she inhaled and exhaled loudly.  “And someone in Seattle is helping him.”

I froze and she explained, “Someone who knew you had this perimeter sweep this quarter.  Someone who gave information to those on the outside where to dig to get wolves into the sewage system.  A Clean Blood in the city working with Marcus.”  Her upper lip curled showing her teeth like fangs as she added in a dangerous tone. “With you dead, Slater or one of his shell companies could buy the land from the state to prevent it from being mined.  Or even worse, have you bitten by Marcus or one of his betas and ordered under compulsion to hand over the land, losing not only your humanity, but your own free will.”

A cold shiver ran down my spine at that.  Then a red hot rage started to build inside me to chase away that chill.  I repeated in a hiss, “He destroyed my family for a piece of land?”

She shrugged and said, “It is my best working theory, but I may be way off base.”

I squinted at her as we reached the end of my patrol and started to loop back around.  “But you've done your homework?  How long have you been putting this all together?”

The streetlights glinted off of her eyes and they glowed like a wolf's only in an eerie blue.  “Fifty years or so.  The recent activity around Seattle has solidified it all for me.  I just know that if I can get close to Slater, Marcus can't be far behind.”

I nodded and we finished our perimeter sweep without saying another word to each other.  My mind was caught in an endless loop, mulling over everything she had shared with me.  And her suspicions about the fate of my family.

We watched the gates open after the sun peeked out over the horizon.  They would remain open now, until the next full moon cycle in twenty-six days.  She moved off and sat on a light post to watch us complete our shift.  No, really, a light post, I kid you not.

We watched as a containment team headed outside the gates, saying they needed to pick up some weapons laying on a rooftop of an auto mechanic's shop about a hundred yards beyond the fifty yard “keep clear” zone.  The area around the base of the city perimeter, where no trees or buildings are allowed to be.

I looked at Victor.  He shook his head in a dismissive manner.  “Dumb-ass Wolf Hunter thought he'd be safe positioned there to pick off wolves for the bounties.  He kept hidden most of the night and started firing just before you got here.  He must have thought he'd be fine until sunrise.  It took the wolves all of thirty seconds to get to the roof and overwhelm him.  Tore him to shreds.”

He made a derisive sound and spit on the ground. “Goddamn waste of life.  All those Hunters are greedy dumb-asses living off borrowed time.  Just for the thrill and a few bucks.”  Then he looked up as I motioned with my eyes.  He grinned and backpedaled, “All except you of course Mari.  You're too pretty to get yourself killed.  No offense.”

She smiled down from her perch, showing her pearly whites with those long canines and inclined her head, then tilted her head slightly to me and winked.  She spoke to him without looking away from me as she sat there like a cat balancing on the post.  “None taken Detective.”  I'm sorry to admit this got a chuckle from me.

When it was time to head back to the station, I looked up.  “See you Wednesday?”  She leaped down and landed between Victor and me virtually silently, only the rustling of her cloak signaled her landing.

O'Neil looked up then down to her then back up to the post and then just shook his head as she said, “Unless you'd like to speak some more.  Otherwise, I'll head back to my camp.”

I felt a warm flush go through me but thought better of tempting myself.  “I've been burning the candle at both ends the past three nights, I had better get some rest the next two days unless a homicide pops up.”

She looked playfully disappointed then just said, “Detectives.”  Then she simply walked out the gates.

Victor looked from her to me then back at her again.  “Oh fuck me.  You hit that, didn't you McQueen?”

I exhaled and shook my head.  “Get your head out of the gutter O'Neil.  You're such an ass.”  I couldn't help teasing the old goat some as I walked around to the drivers side of our cruiser.  “We only showered at my place.”

I kept a straight face as the man just gawked at me through his open door for a solid ten count before he blinked and then squinted.  “No, you didn't!  Now who's being the ass.”  I still didn't look at him as we pulled into the traffic arriving through the main gates.  “You didn't, did you?  Did you?”

I mumbled with a slight smirk on my face, still not meeting his eyes, “Wouldn't you like to know?”

He nodded. “Yes, yes I would.  I live out all my lesbian fantasies through you.”

I did turn to the dirty old man this time with an incredulous smile on my face as I slapped his arm hard.  He just laughed out loud at that and I teased, “I wonder if it is too late to get assigned to a new partner.”

He snickered.  “You'd miss me too much.”

I stopped a laugh.  “Yeah, I'd hate to have to break in a new old fart.”

We got cleaned up at the station and said our goodbyes, and I was ready to sleep for a week.  By the time I got home, I could barely focus through my bleary eyes.  I started to pull the heavy drapes to block out the sun when I saw a figure in red a couple blocks away. She was sitting on top of the outer wall, staring out to the world beyond as it woke up into a bustling metropolis on both sides of the gates.

I chuckled and opened my window and brought my fingers to my lips and let out a shrill whistle that made my own ears hurt.  I figured that with her hearing she should... She almost spun around instantly toward my whistle.  I know she couldn't see it from there, but I rolled my eyes.  I could imagine her lopsided grin then I waved her in.

My breath caught as she just leaped from the wall to the nearest rooftop and made her way to the roof across the street from my window.  She called across, “Yes detective?”

I said, “Hey if you're going to be watching me the whole time until we go to the negotiations, you may as well do it in here.  It's creepy stalker-like if you're hanging around on rooftops.”

I saw an excited, childlike smile flashy across her features, to be replaced by her cocky, self-assured smirk.  She shrugged. “I was on the city wall, not a rooftop.”  I tried to stop it, but I snorted at that.

Not to be outdone I said, “And I could arrest you for that.”

She was nonplussed and comically held her hands out for cuffs.  I rolled my eyes and motioned my head in with a smile twitching at the corners of my mouth.  “Get in here... Maireni.”  I used her name just to watch the amazing blush she got on her cheeks.

She made a shooing motion.  “Move aside, please.”

I blinked, realizing the woman intended on leaping across the street into my window.  Instead, I gave a cheesy grin and said, “Use the door like a normal person,” I closed the window.

I heard a high-pitched explosion of laughter.  Less than a minute later there was a knock on my door.  I smiled and called out, “Who is it.”

“You are a terrible person Daria,”  she said through the door.

I chuckled and said, “Come on in.”  She walked in with a cute look on her face and she shut the door behind her after inhaling deeply in the hall, pulling air through her mouth and nose.

I quirked an eyebrow. “That's just not normal in case you were wondering.”

She shook her head.  “Says you.  Besides, the smells changed since we left and I was just checking.  You had a visitor.”

My eyes immediately swept my spartan apartment.  She held up a hand.  “No, not in here.  The end of the hall by the stairway.  By the smell of it, they were there most of the night.  It has a clear view of your door.”

I stepped to the door and opened it a crack and looked down to the door at the stairs.  Then looked at her as I closed the door, feeling violated in some manner.  “Do you um... recognize who it was by smell?”

She shook her head as she took the time to really take in my apartment though she had spent the afternoon here.  “No, but I'd recognize them if I smelled them again.”  Then she squinted an eye.  “Just how long have you lived here?”

I shrugged.  “A couple years.”

She looked around again then sat on the couch.  “Not really a material girl are you... you'd think you'd have more than a couch and a box.”